Learning
The Bored of Education: Lessons From a Lifetime in the Classroom
Julia Sneden wrote, "I suspect that being on a School Board is rather a thankless job. One must deal with many dry facts and knotty problems, so one almost never encounters the joy that ought to be at the heart of education. I don't doubt that such boards are trying to keep an eye on what they perceive as appropriate education for our children. It seems to me, however, that the important question is whether or not they are qualified to make that judgment." more »
Best of Scout: Teaching History with 100 Objects, Pick Your Poison, Open Culture Sources, Roman Empire Maps and the Lesser Prairie Chicken
A selection of sites to explore and get lost in: Open Culture, the artsy information hub that features "the best free cultural & educational media on the web" contains reviews and links to hundreds of open educational resources. Whether readers are interested in learning Arabic, would like to hear Patti Smith read Virginia Woolf, or are eager to explore a collection of Gabriel Garcia Marquez stories, Open Culture has something for everyone, including Stephen Colbert reading from Flannery O'Connor. more »
Mary K. Gaillard: One Woman's Journey In Physics
Gaillard writes about the slights and frustrations that gradually raised her consciousness as she rose to the top among theoretical physicists trying to understand the complexities of the universe's fundamental particles. The wife of a physicist, she mothered three young children while simultaneously laying the theoretical groundwork for key experiments that proved the validity of the Standard Model, now accepted as the best description of three of the four forces of nature. more »
States to Colleges: Prove You’re Worth It
The idea of using outcomes — not enrollments — to guide public funding of higher education has so much bipartisan backing that both President Barack Obama and Florida's Republican Gov. Rick Scott support it. Just last week, the Florida Board of Education approved a performance-funding system for state colleges, adding to its existing system for state universities. more »